hope you liked it! i originally was just gonna color in the top picture but then i kept drawing and getting ideas and drawing and ideas and... 7 pages later i had truly jumped off the deep end but i'm pretty content with it hehe
i've been struggling to write this chapter for a few different reasons, but i didn't want the month to end without giving yall a little something. so despite the chapter not being finished yet, i want to post at least the first half as a kind of "sneak peak" as a way to say thank you for the continuous patience and support. it's seriously amazing to me that anyone would have an interest in my little story! anyway, enough rambling, here is the first half of the third chapter of Pie Day.
(Passages in italics take place in the past.)
Chapter 3: Orange, You're Not a Joke to Me!
The first few weeks were always the hardest. But Olive told herself that if she could just get through the first month, the rest would be smooth sailing. Telling herself these kinds of lies was the only way she knew how to keep herself sane through the drama that was being partnered with Todd.
Every day was a new adventure in Toddland, and despite her height, she was tall enough to ride every erratic wave. Emotional highs and lows were inescapable. Yet, she persisted it all with little more than a shred of sanity.
Luckily, Olive's quiet docility paid off in the form of their first case. Finally, a chance to prove herself to Ms. O, to Todd, and to herself.
On route via the tubes, Olive tried to take her mind off of the nauseating motion by reviewing the case details.
Here was the skinny: Mrs. Mack, who had recently opened a new fruit stand at the downtown park, reported to the Odd Squad hotline a case of fruit-swapsies. Oranges turning into apples. Apples morphing into bananas. And bananas… well, those remained the same, making this all the more suspicious. Fruit-swapsies, it would seem, were a rather rare occurrence, making this a case that would require a lot of cunning and problem-solving.
At the park, the fruit stand was packed with a crowd of outraged customers. People, young and mostly old, were bombarding a nervous Mrs. Mack with complaints and demands.
“I paid for three apples and two minutes later they turned into bananas! I demand a full refund!” shouted one indignant woman.
“The oranges I bought turned into apples! What kind of witchcraft is this?” screamed a smartly dressed man.
Todd and Olive worked their way through the angry crowd to find Mrs. Mack attempting to appease the customers. As soon as she saw them, a wave of relief washed over Mrs. Mack’s face.
“Odd Squad! It is so good to see you at a time like this,” she sighed.
“It is our pleasure to be here,” Todd said. “Now, allow me to disperse this crowd so as to better aid you.”
Addressing the group, Todd’s voice boomed throughout the corner of the park. “ATTENTION YOU ANGRY YOUNG MEN!”
“I’m a girl!” one of the people shouted back.
“I don’t care!” Todd replied. “This is official Odd Squad business. You all need to vacate the premises for the time being as me and my partner work to figure out this case of fruit-swapsies.”
“But what about all of our mixed up fruit?”
“We–”
“We are going to fix all of this!” Olive impulsively spoke. “Don’t worry, everyone! We’re going to make this right.”
Todd’s head whipped her way, a scowl on his face. “What do you think you’re doing?” he whispered through gritted teeth.
“I’m reassuring the people that we’re here to help,” she whispered back, unsure why he was angry with her all of a sudden.
“You can’t just make false promises like that.”
“I–”
He turned back to the crowd, addressing them once more. “You can keep the fruit or turn it in to us. We thank you for your cooperation. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to approach us if you have any clues or tips on what happened. Dismissed.”
Immediately, the people did as he had commanded. Some grumbled, others shrugged, but all gave them the privacy they needed to work the case.
“I apologize for the barbarism,” Todd said to Mrs. Mack. “You would think suburban folk would know how to act.”
Delighted by Todd’s charisma, Mrs. Mack cracked up, placing her hands on her thighs to support herself.
“Oh, I really needed that, dear,” she said, sighing after a long laugh. “Thank you.”
“Just doing my job,” Todd replied. “Now, may I ask, when did you get into the fruit selling business?”
“Um, about four months ago. This fruit stand actually belonged to my great-aunt, Mrs. Jack. Short for Jacqueline,” she said, smiling. “I inherited it about a year ago when she–” Mrs. Mack paused, her lips quivering slightly. “When she passed away.”
“I'm so sorry for your loss,” Todd consoled.
“Thank you, sweetie,” said the older woman.
“Were you two close?”
“Yes, extremely. I’d visit her every day at her fruit stand until she had to close it, a few years ago. You see, she became really sick, so she decided to close the business. But my cousin Zack insisted that she kept the stand open. He even offered to buy it from her a few times, but she always refused, saying that she had different plans for it.”
“You don’t say,” Todd said. “And did–”
“Um, Todd,” Olive interrupted, impatient and nervous. Her partner shot her an annoyed glance. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“If you must,” he huffed. “Excuse me, Mrs. Mack. The ol’ ball and chain calls.”
Olive and Todd stepped to the side, leaving a confused Mrs. Mack with her damaged goods.
“What is it? I’m in the middle of interviewing the victim.”
“Why are you asking her about her family history?” Olive asked.
“Because I’m trying to be a good detective.”
“But why does any of that matter? I thought we were just here to fix up the swapped fruit.”
Todd took a long breather, making Olive more nervous than she was. Truly, she did not understand his logic; the case they were assigned was to find out why the fruit got swapped and how to turn it back. Where did Mrs. Mack’s complicated family history fit into any of that?
“Listen, Scribbles,” Todd began, “in this job, there are two roles: leaders and followers. Leaders are charismatic, witty, quick-thinking.” And a pain in the side, Olive thought. “You are a follower,” Todd continued. “So act like one, and stop interrupting me in the middle of my job.”
Dumbfounded, Olive remained where she was standing as Todd returned to interviewing Mrs. Mack. She didn’t know what hurt more, that he had insulted her or that he was right about what he’d said.
After a few more minutes, Todd called Olive over.
“From what Mrs. Mack told me, it sounds like we might have a few leads,” Todd explained. “So we’ll return to HQ, take a few fruit samples to the lab, and round up our lists of suspects.”
She nodded.
“If there are no further questions,” Todd trailed off, looking at Mrs. Mack.
“Oh! No further questions here, young detective!” she said cheekily.
“Then let’s take the tubes back.”
“The tubes…?” Olive whimpered.
“Yeah, they’re the fastest and safest mode of transportation.”
A knot formed in her stomach.
“Let’s go,” Todd said as he started to walk toward the hidden tube entrance. Swallowing hard, Olive followed behind.
✧༝┉˚✬˚┉༝✧✧༝┉˚✬˚┉༝✧✧༝┉˚✬˚┉༝✧✧༝┉˚✬˚┉༝✧
Riding the tubes never got much easier. Swooshing up and down and back around was one of the most unpleasant feelings Olive had ever experienced. But she learned how to tolerate it. She was good at that.
Reorienting herself after stepping foot onto solid, steady land took only a few seconds after years of tube-riding. Still, Otto never advanced without first checking in with Olive to see if she was ready. A silent nod was all that they needed to communicate.
The fruit stand appeared to have been another victim of Todd’s pie fury fest. Fruit jelly and custard innards littered the stand. Mrs. Mack stood in shock, not noticing the three agents approaching her kiosk.
“Mrs. Mack?” said Olive.
“Huh? Oh!” the older woman replied, still stunned. “Sorry, dear. I didn’t notice you there.”
“Are you alright?” Otto quickly asked.
“Oh, I’m fine. You know, I often find myself covered in fruit after a long work shift!”
The agents looked at each other, unsure by the cadence of her voice if that was a joke or not.
“Hah ha ha hah!” Otto laughed awkwardly. Mrs. Mack smiled.
“I was just about to close for the day anyway,” said the woman. She wiped herself off with an embroidered handkerchief. Then, she started wiping the pie off of the fruit merchandise.
“Here, let us help you,” Olive offered, lunging for a crate of apples.
“Thank you, dear.”
“Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
Mrs. Mack set down a freshly cleaned carton of oranges on the floor.
“He came,” she said, voice deep. “And he’s looking for you.”
“I– what?”
Suddenly, the air seemed colder. Guilt brushed her face with the chilly wind and aroma of baked goods. Why was Odd Todd doing all of this? And why did he have to drag other people into this? That was just the kind of selfish person he was, Olive rationalized. He craved attention, and what better way to get a bunch of eyes on you than to wreak havoc.
“He also gave me this to give to you,” Mrs. Mack said as she handed Olive a folded piece of paper.
Another note and the promise of another clue.
✧༝┉˚✬˚┉༝✧✧༝┉˚✬˚┉༝✧✧༝┉˚✬˚┉༝✧✧༝┉˚✬˚┉༝✧
check out the story so far on ao3! when i finish the chapter i will post it on ao3. so stay tuned for updates and keep on keeping odd.
I initially thought Devon was Ahsoka-sized but looked so small compared to Maul due to framing, emphasizing his presence, but I just found out she's only 4’11”. Roughly a foot shorter than Ahsoka (depending on the source). Six inches shorter than Barriss. Three space apples tall. I really hope she survives and they don't show her growing more, because I want to write them all meeting for the visual. Tiny, angry ex-Jedi meets even tinier, angrier, exer-Jedi.
NPT: @greensagephase @angel-of-the-moons @fujii-dlc @sincerely-sofie-shoebox @cage-with-human-soul-and-parts @rowanisawriter and anyone else in the mood😊
Oooh!! Scrolling through the Tomcat tag and found this!!
1. The F-14 Tomcat, why it never should have been decommissioned and why we should bring it back (I wrote a very long paper on it)
2. Star Wars (it’s been my first and longest standing love besides Jesus Christ)
3. Transformers (mainly Prime but also why G1 is still gold and why the bayverse movies are okay-not great but okay-)
4. Writing (my Ocs and the stories I come up with)
5. The importance of media and how it depicts ppl but most importantly why children should occasionally watch something that scares them, and that they should watch something that makes them think and might be a bit too ‘mature’ in language as it can help teach them etc etc..
origamiaround
prguitarman
titsay
snowghoul
discoholicmusic
